Fishing floats are commonly used in fishing to suspend bait, such as minnows or worms, above the bottom of a body of water. They also allow a fisherperson to monitor whether a fish is taking the bait. Early fishing floats were designed primarily for floatation and monitoring, with little consideration given to casting or the resistance the bobbers offered to fish taking the bait suspended below the bobber. Such floats are typically spherical and house an inner compartment of air to provide the floatation necessary for the float to work correctly. The monitoring function worked effectively based on the size of the bobber which increased its profile for monitoring by the fisherperson. As a result, when small floats were used to decrease resistance presented to fish, the fisherperson had to contend with an accompanying decrease in visibility.
Known floats also present problems when retrieved by the fisherperson. The resistance offered by such floats is often mistaken as an indication that a fish has been hooked. Instead, the resistance felt is often that of the bobber moving through the water. That resistance results in the retrieval of bait that could best be left in the water.
Another problem associated with known fishing floats is the volume needed to store the floats in a tackle box.
An adaptation which attempted to address the problem of resistance to fish taking the suspended bait is known as a pencil bobber. Such bobbers presented a smaller cross section than a typical spherical float and were, therefore, less resistant to moving through water. Pencil bobbers typically have an elliptical or round shaped float section topped by a thin protrusion to offer increased visibility for the fisherperson. In spite of the thin protrusion, however, pencil bobbers are typically less visible to the fisherperson based primarily on the narrow profile they present for monitoring.
Pencil bobbers also do not address the problem of casting fishing lines with floats attached for buoyancy. Casting is particularly difficult when windy conditions are encountered.